


Rhymes With "Can o' Data"

by volta_arovet



Category: Order of the Stick
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-23
Updated: 2009-12-23
Packaged: 2017-10-05 03:06:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/37148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/volta_arovet/pseuds/volta_arovet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes, Elan's songs need a little help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rhymes With "Can o' Data"

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Thistlerose](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thistlerose/gifts).



They sat on the deck, shoulder to shoulder, fingers intertwined. A few feet away, Elan was perched on the deck's rail, plucking out a soft, sweet tune on his mandolin. With a smile that was 25% less dashing but 30% more lovestruck than usual, he looked up at the stars and started singing.

"Somewhere out there, beneath the pale moonliiiiight... Some rogue's thinking of me, and missing me toniiiiiiight," he sang in a clear tenor, strumming a bridge to the next line.

Kazumi sighed and rested her head on Daigo's shoulder.

Elan reached the end of the musical progression and held the chord that led to the next line.

Daigo smiled and squeezed her hand.

Elan continued to play the same chord.

Together, they stared at the bridge of stars dashed across the sky.

Three minutes later, Elan was still playing the same damn chord.

"Did he forget the words?" Daigo whispered to Kazumi.

"Haley's supposed to sing the next line," Elan said, still strumming the same chord. "I don't get it. I mean, I know we're having trouble with the scrying thingamabobby, but this kind of song is supposed to _always work._" He frowned. "Maybe it's not in her key?"

"Wouldn't whatever you sing about be outside the lines of what you could know in canon, anyway?" Daigo asked.

Elan's frown deepened, and he bowed his head in a perfect, tragic pose. He must have been practicing. "Aww. And I worked so hard fitting all our recent news into the second verse. I was really proud of how I rhymed 'Kubota' with 'coup d'etat.'"

"Maybe you should try 'starlight' instead of 'moonlight,'" Kazumi suggested. Elan cocked his head. "See that long line of stars in the sky?" Kazumi said, pointing to them. "We have a legend about them. It says that many years ago, two people who loved each other were separated to opposite sides of the sky. They loved each other so much that the gods let them visit each other once a year, using the stars as a bridge. Maybe your song can do the same."

Elan brightened. "A tie-in to a parallel myth could help the narrative structure of the song," he said, already fiddling with his mandolin. "I'd just need to switch around some of the metaphors, swap out a few rhymes, it could work..."

"That was nice of you," Daigo said, quietly enough that only Kazumi could hear him. "Although I notice you didn't mention that the reason they were separated was because they couldn't keep their hands off each other long enough to get their work done."

"I didn't think I needed to say it," she said, snuggling in closer. "After all, no reason to rub in the fact that some of us don't need to cross the sky to be with the one we love."

"Somewhere out there, beneath the pale starliiiiight... Some rogue's thinking of me, and causing a bar fiiiiiiight," Elan sang, and together, they watched the stars.

**Author's Note:**

> Kazumi's story is a brief retelling of the legend about Tanabata, which is a traditional Japanese and Chinese holiday. Elan's song is, of course, a bastardization of the song from An American Tail.


End file.
